1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a bucket used on board a boat and, more particularly, to a bucket which, in addition to fulfilling its normal purpose, can also be used as a bailer, a floatation device, and an underwater viewing device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A bucket is considered an essential tool on board most boats. Buckets can be used to carry water or bait aboard a boat, to store fish caught on a fishing trip, or for dipping overboard to retrieve water for washing down the deck. Buckets are also treated as a general purpose bailer for bailing out the bottom of the boat in an emergency situation or when the boat owner is out at sea during a rain storm. Too date, most boat owners have given little thought to the type of bucket they bring on board a boat and often will use the type of bucket commonly sold at a grocery store. Most of these buckets, especially the round type bucket, are not designed for bailing out a boat and generally give poor results. An important problem with bringing anything aboard a boat is the space taken by the object. Simply by the space savings alone, it is apparent that a bucket which is designed to have more than one use aboard a boat will be a great improvement over the prior art.
People often want to see what is going on underneath them when they have ventured out into a body of water. A typical example of viewing devices which enhance water visibility are swimmers goggles. When the swimmers head is immersed in the water, the goggle provides an air pocket between the swimmer's eyes and the water and provides the swimmer with a much clearer field of view than without the goggles. U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,621 to French discloses a swimmer's viewing float which provides some support to the swimmer while he or she watches objects below. The float is spherical in shape and contains an air pocket between the top and bottom halves. A swimmer places his or her face in a clear, concave section of the float and views objects through a clear portion of the bottom half of the float. In one embodiment, the French swimmer s float is inflatable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,468 to Deacy discloses a rectangular underwater viewing device which, when placed in the water, allows a person to place their head within an open top section and view objects below through the clear sidewalls and bottom. The Deacy underwater viewing device is not designed to be used as a bucket and would tend to sink when water spills over the top rim inside its rectangular body.